


Swan Song

by acupoftea



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-20 12:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16555523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acupoftea/pseuds/acupoftea
Summary: My Swan Song for Clementine - aka this is a collection of fics dedicated to Telltale's Walking Dead Games and the protagonist, Clementine.Each one is filling in the gaps on missing scenes across the seasons, or different takes on canon events. (Will feature some minor Clem/Louis and Clem/Violet in different chapters, but won't be a major focus.)





	1. (Sha La La La) Kiss the Girl!

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is just to kick start things off. A small, different take on how Louis & Clementine could've had their first kiss. Takes place in some murky period of time after everything with Lilly & all that has been resolved and everyone is okay :)

“Leaving again, huh?” Louis catches Clementine by surprise, leaning against the flat arch of the doorway leading to the school’s fire exit, his arms crossed. 

“Yeah.” Clem shrugs. Javi has asked her to come visit, not in so many words, he’d just mentioned that his baseball skills were getting rusty again and he wanted someone to practice with. Neither of them mentioned that if he needed someone to play baseball with, he could’ve just asked Gabe.

“Do you want…someone to come with you?” Louis says awkwardly, trying to mask his obvious concern with a grin.

Clem looks at him, hair dark and loose, pushed behind his shoulders. He meets her eyes and glances away from her, his face half in shadow. 

“It’ll be okay, Lou. It’ll only be a few weeks.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Besides, do you know how badass that sounds?” 

Louis grins as she says it, losing the concern for a moment as he starts to ramble. “It’s so cool. Hitting the road by yourself, facing it all like it’s no big deal. Like a badass road warrior, well, except you’re a teenage girl, but that kinda makes it more awesome you know? And you’ve got all this experience and you know how to use like, ten different types of guns not to mention your knife throwing skills and –”

Clementine interrupts him. “Tough girl attitude,” She repeats, using air quotes around the words.

He laughs. “Yeah Clem, come on, you know you’ve got this whole ‘take no shit’ attitude going on. It’s probably why both me and Violet –”

And he stops abruptly, looking horrified at the words that were going to come out of his mouth. 

“Both you and Violet…?” Clem prompts him.

“Uh…why we both wanted you to stay at the school. Yep, that’s exactly what I was going to say, that you have such a shining personality and you’re so great to have around, because you’re really…uh… such a valuable member of this…community.” He trails off.

“Riiiight.” Clem drawls, crossing her arms over her chest. 

He takes another step towards her, and he looks down at her, suddenly serious. “Look, Clem, what I’m trying to say is…be careful okay?”

“You know me,” Clem replies, with just a hint of sarcasm. “I always am.” 

“Yeah,” he says, smiling briefly, “that’s you. That’s why trouble never seems to find you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clementine deadpans, and as she does, he takes another step forward and suddenly she’s up against the wall of the hallway, almost of all of him silhouetted in darkness and nearly pressing against her. 

Both of the seem to realise how close they are in the same moment. Their eyes meet and she can feel the heat rising to her cheeks. 

“Louis-” Clem begins, but as she does something flickers behind his eyes and he suddenly cuts her off by leaning down and kissing her, just once, chaste and firm and dry. 

“Uh,” Clementine says when he pulls back, blushing, her heart beating suddenly a lot faster, mind entirely blank.

“Uh,” Louis says, suddenly realising what he just did, stepping back immediately with his hands up. “I shouldn’t have done that, Clem, I’m sorry –”

She tries to talk over him, “No it’s okay Louis, really –” but he’s rambling again, running his fingers through his hair. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask, and I’ve totally just screwed this up haven’t I, I knew it was a bad idea and I didn’t know if –” and he won’t shut up, so Clementine is the one to step forward this time and she yanks him towards her, kissing him again. 

This kiss is not nearly as brief, and after a while they have to pull back, both dizzy. 

“Wow,” Louis breathes. 

“Yeah,” Clem says, grinning at him. She reaches for his hand. Clem’s not letting him run away this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a slight headcanon that Clem & Javier stay in contact because I love their dynamic and they were such good friends by the end of season 3. I genuinely can’t imagine them not ever seeing each other again when they’re both like…alive and relatively safe and probably close (in distance) to each other.
> 
> Let me know if anything/one seems out of character!


	2. Something To Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Clementine's birthday (and she wishes it wasn't). Louis wants to throw her a party (and she is definitely not a party person).  
> Ft. Violet/Clementine.

“Oi, lovebirds,” Louis crows as he flies into the room, and it’s so sudden that Clem is already in motion, leaping out of bed and ducking low to the ground, grabbing the knife tucked into the hidden ankle pocket in her pants, flipping it out as she moves, and she’s halfway across the room, darting towards the cover provided before the wardrobe, before she pauses. 

Louis and Vi are both staring at her, Vi sitting up in bed with mussed hair and blinking at her, Louis frozen in the doorway. 

“Uh,” He says, and Clem slowly straightens up, tucking the knife back into the pocket of her cargo pants. 

“Sorry,” Clem says, awkwardly, because they’re both still staring. “You just uh…surprised me.”

Louis laughs nervously at the same time that Violet mutters “Damn, girl,” and Clem scratches the back of her neck. 

The silence simmers in the room until Louis laughs once more and says, “Wellllll…..I’m just gonna get going then.”

“Wait,” Violet calls after him, as he starts to back out the door. “I _know_ you didn’t just come in here and wake me up for no good reason. What did you want?”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” And then he looks over at Clem and grins. “A certain someone told me it was your birthday soon.”

“No,” Clem says, “He _didn’t._ ”

Louis smiles even wider. “My man AJ most certainly did, and you know what that means?” 

“No,” Clem groans, just as Violet yells, “Yes!”

“Not you too!” Clem throws a dirty look to Violet, who shrugs her shoulders, unable to suppress a grin. 

“Come on, we are so throwing you a party!” Louis cries, and Clem rolls her eyes. 

“You don’t even know how old I am.”

“Doesn’t matter!”

“Hold on,” Violet chimes in. “Why doesn’t it matter?” 

“Well, Clem, would you let me throw it if I knew?”

“Still no.” Clem replies.

“So it doesn’t matter!”

“Isn’t like, the whole point that it’s about how old you’re turning?”

“Are you saying you’d give up an opportunity to party?”

“Yes.” 

“Clem-” Louis begins, but Violet interrupts him, coming to Clem’s rescue.

“She said no, Louis.”

“She hasn’t even heard me out yet!”

“Do you know what the word no means?”

“Do you?”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Yeah, well, you don’t make sense!”

“Wow, good one Louis, that realllllly cuts deep.” 

“I’m just trying to plan a party here!”

“Do you like, literally ever, ever, shut up?”

“Do you?”

“Make me.”

“Would you like me to leave you two alone?” Clementine interrupts this time, and laughs at the horrified expressions that appear on both their faces. Clem turns to face Louis, eyebrow raised, cocked, and loaded. “Do I really seem like a party person to you?” She asks him. 

“Okay, okay, I guess a guy can take a hint.” Louis says, hands up in surrender. 

From the bed, Vi mutters under her breath “Doubt it.” Louis shoots her a glare then turns back to Clem. “Look, I’ll leave you alone,” Louis continues, “for now. But mark my words, Clementine, this isn’t over.”

“Uh…are you threatening me? Was that a threat?” 

“Clem, please, he wouldn’t know a threat if it was ten feet tall and stabbing him in the chest,” Vi teases, and it startles a laugh out of Clem.

Louis pouts, squints his eyes, points two fingers at his eyes then at Clem’s, in a universal I’m watching you gesture, then backs out of the door and leaves, followed by the echo of Clem and Vi’s laughter, mingling together. 

Once Louis leaves, the tension in the room changes. 

Violet says nothing but the laughter dies out quickly as Clem slips the knife back into place in the low hidden pocket of her pants, and then approaches the bed, perching on the edge of Vi’s side of the bed. She can feel Vi’s eyes on her, can imagine the crease of concern between her eyes. 

Clem braces for Violet to ask her - if she’s fine, why she sleeps with a knife, why Clem doesn’t feel safe even around her - but what Violet asks instead is, “How old are you, by the way?”

It startles Clem into looking over at Violet – and abruptly distracted by how different Vi seems in the mornings. The tangle of her hair against her forehead, the slight dimples in her cheeks, the red tug of her mouth. It makes Clementine feel warm, it almost makes her feel – 

_Safe._

“I don’t know.” Clementine replies, softly. Truthfully. “I’m pretty sure I’m sixteen, maybe older, but I lost track a while ago.”

“Oh,” Vi replies, and Clem sighs. “It’s okay,” Clem continues, looking back across the room, tugging her knees to her chest. “I’ve never minded really. It’s not something I think about a lot.” 

Vi rises up behind her, wrapping her arms around Clem from behind, tucking her chin against the space between Clem’s neck and shoulder. 

“Hey,” Violet says, and she presses a brief kiss to her cheek. “I get it.”

Clem doesn’t say anything, just reaches for Vi’s hand, grabs onto it.

It’s nice, Clementine thinks, sharing with someone like this. Trusting them. It goes against everything Clem’s learnt, and it scares Clementine more than a little bit, but it’s easy. It’s easy and it’s nice and nothing Clementine could ever imagine she’d ever get to keep. 

Vi sighs, drawing Clem’s thoughts back to her. To the press of Violet’s toned body warm against her back. 

“Did you know,” Violet begins, “That you do this thing, sometimes, where you go all quiet.” 

She pauses, to press another kiss, this time on Clem’s shoulder. “It’s like you’re locking the rest of the world out.”

Clem swallows. “Violet-”

Violet continues on in a single breath, sounding almost nervous. “It’s fine, really. But,” and she picks up their entwined hands, presses the cool of it to her cheek, “I just need you to let me in sometimes. If….if we’re going to be doing….whatever “this” is.” 

“Okay.” Clem replies, her mouth dry. _Something to keep._ “I’m trying, it’s just…I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Me neither.” Vi replies, and then she smiles, shyly, then turns her head slightly to look Clem in the eyes. “Thanks. And just….so you know…I really, really like you, Clementine.”

Clementine rolls her eyes in return. “You’ve only told me that about ten times this week,”, but she grins, shifting towards her and flattening her palm on Vi’s cheek, sliding it to cup the back of her neck, pulling her in for a kiss.

And the conversation ends pretty quickly after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will (probably) be a part two to this one. 
> 
> Also I'm not one for heavy dialogue (especially humour) so let me know how this comes across!


	3. Summer Days (Driftin' Away)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small piece on the friendship between Louis, Violet, and Clem. Once again, set somewhere in the undetermined future where everyone is alive and happy and safe.

“Hey,” Louis says suddenly, “You ever think about what it would’ve been like? If the world was how it was before and we’d met like that instead?”

“Nah,” Vi says at the same time that Clem says “Yeah.”

They look at each other, the three of them sitting close on the low wall bordering the back edge of the school. Clem’s the first to reply, “You first.” 

“It’s gonna sound stupid,” Vi mutters, but Louis nudges her. 

“Come onnn, spill.”

She laughs lightly. “Okay, okay, it’s just…I stopped thinking about that stuff a long time ago, y’know? Like there’s no point in “what-if” because it never would’ve happened. Like...this is it. And who knows if any of us would’ve ever met at all if things had stayed like that.”

Violet’s eyes are on the setting sun, but Clem can tell she’s a little bit embarrassed by the blush in her cheeks.  
“I know what you mean,” Clementine says. 

“Then why’d you say yes?” Louis asks, from Clem's left. 

“Because I can’t help thinking about it. I try not to…but it’s tough. Especially when –” She cuts herself off, biting the inside of her cheek. _Especially when I’ve lost so many people._

They’ve all gone through shit, Clem knows, but by now she also knows that what she’s been through is not universal. Vi and Louis grew up in a way she won’t ever know and...it’s hard not to let that sting sometimes. 

“What, Clem?” Vi asks her, and she looks away from them, settling her sights on the wooded trees in the distance. “It’s just hard not to regret sometimes.” 

The silence falls too melancholy after that, against the warm afternoon breeze, light and promising heat. Clem finally breaks it by glancing over to her left and asking, “What about you, Lou?”

Instead of brushing it off like she (and probably Violet) expected, he clears his throat. Scratches the back of his head hesitantly. “Well, it’s like Violet said. It would’ve been devastatingly tragic if you’d never experienced _this_ face and _these_ charms.” He grins at the two of them as Clem rolls her eyes and Violet reaches around Clem to smack him on the arm. 

They settle into quiet again, letting the summer afternoon burn the faint nostalgia between the three of them. Violet hooks her ankle around Clem’s, a brush of white skin on brown. Louis leans his head onto Clem’s left shoulder, his arm pressed against hers, a brush of brown skin on black.

Together, they watch the sun set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is from Grease!
> 
> (After this, the next chapter or two will probably be more about the previous seasons'/Clem's past).

**Author's Note:**

> I have a slight headcanon that Clem & Javier stay in contact because I love their dynamic and they were such good friends by the end of season 3. I genuinely can’t imagine them not ever seeing each other again when they’re both like…alive and relatively safe and probably close (in distance) to each other.
> 
> Let me know if anything/one seems out of character!


End file.
